


Rich As Honesty

by tribryds



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23919823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tribryds/pseuds/tribryds
Summary: Hope Mikaeslon, a troubled student at a boarding school for the rich and troubled finds herself as the cause of her boyfriends death. In an attempt to help keep her out of prison, Alaric Saltzman, the headmaster, helps her cover up the murder. Leading to a web of lies with family, friends and detectives all digging to find the truth. The death is the first untangling web but what comes next is almost worse.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Jade & Josie Saltzman, Lizzie Saltzman/Rafael Waithe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Rich As Honesty

Now let's get one thing straight here - no one is innocent. They're at the boarding school for the troubled rich for a reason. Local PD already hates getting calls from and about the Salvatore School and if they could, this would've been solved months ago.

  
But that's not how things ever work out, now is it?

  
Hope Mikaelson may be the root of a heap load of problems for the school but murder? Would someone a mere five foot two, who loves baking shows and her boyfriend too, even be capable of something like that? Sure, she stirred trouble but so did everyone. Half the student body could've committed manslaughter with their DUI's and robberies and drug deals but they're not being questioned about Landon Kirby's death now are they?

  
Landon Kirby was well loved at the school. Kind soul, intelligent, a loyal friend and boyfriend. Nobody understood why he chose to be with someone as criminal as Hope Mikaelson, not that he was any better than her or anyone at the school frankly.

  
He was trouble too, not in the same way as her though. And he wasn't as upfront about what made him a Salvatore School student but we'll touch on that later.  
It's night. Mid November, a cold breeze and the distinct scent of an autumn night.

  
Landon sits by the untouched pool with a bottle of scotch. He loosens the tie around his neck and watches the water in the pool calmly move back and forth.  
"What are we drinking to today?" Penelope Park calls as she waltzes up to him.

  
She kicks her shoes off and dips her feet in the pool as she sits beside him. Penelope takes the bottle out of his hand and takes a sip herself. "Trust me, I need this just as much as you." She laughs. "I take it as you found out about Josie."

  
He narrows his eyes as he looks at her. "Josie Saltzman? We've never talked. Why would she concern me?"

  
Penelope almost spills the bottle into the pool when she chokes on the drink. "I'm sorry... what are _you_ drinking for then?"

  
"The art of getting drunk. What are you talking about?" He snatches the bottle back.

  
She only laughs harder. He's clueless about everything it's almost endearing. "Where do you think your girlfriend is right now?"

  
"Getting ready for the gala." Landon responds confidently.

  
She holds her laugh back. "Oh honey. You think she needs all day to get ready for this shit show she doesn't care about?" Penelope says, "Hasn't she been leaving you high and dry all month? Has that not risen any red flags at all?"

  
Landon lowers the bottle, Penelope takes it back and takes a sip. She's waiting for an answer from him but for someone so smart, he's dumbfounded.

  
Penelope sets the bottle back in his hands softly. "You should ask her about that secret she's keeping. The truth'll set you free." She stands up and takes her shoes in her hands. "See you later. Hopefully not with Hope." She says while sauntering back inside the school.

  
Penelope is the queen of gossip so who's to say there's truth to her bite. But Hope has been distant. Weird about her phone, weird about hanging out at night, weird about...everything.

  
*******

  
"Welcome to the annual Salvatore School charity gala!" Headmaster Alaric Saltzman calls from the top of the stairs in the grand hall. "We're excited to be here for a good cause. If you feel inclined to, parents, boosters," he directs his attention to someone specific in the crowd, "local PD. Mac, I'm talking to you." He points and smiles at her before going back to addressing the whole crowd, "We'll be taking donations at the front as well as at a few stations set up around the grand hall."

  
Lizzie Saltzman sits at one (of the four) donation stations in the grand hall. An elegant blue dress shouldn't be stuck behind a booth and yet... "Thank you for your contribution!" She beams to a man as he walks away. Her smile fades as she looks to her sister, Josie, next to her, "Kill me now." 

  
"Thought you were into the whole save the planet thing." Josie leans back in her chair, playing on her phone, ignoring the entire task at hand. "Isn't this your jam?"  
Lizzie lowers Josie's phone to force her to look in her direction. "Global warming and animal cruelty is my jam. Not solar panels for the local high school that has _nothing_ to do with us." She says in disgust. "Jo, did you even try to do your hair for this?"

  
Josie pulls her phone back and flattens her hair out in annoyance. "Whatever. It got messed up." She turns back to her phone.

  
"What? Was the walk from your dorm to here too much for you? Or did Penelope decide to-"

  
"She broke up with me." Josie doesn't flinch, or look remotely upset. She looks...calm. "Yeah like an hour ago."

  
"And you're not upset?"

  
She shrugs like it's nothing. "I don't really care honestly." She leans forward to show Lizzie something on her phone. "Hey, you think he's cute? He's totally into all this global activism like you and he works out."

  
"Jo," Lizzie shoves Josie's phone out of her face. "What the hell happened with Penelope?"

  
It's shocking that Lizzie hasn't heard the rumor flying around already. It took all of an hour for Penelope to start telling people what happened. On the other hand, Lizzie doesn't really do gossip. So no wonder she doesn't know about this. She's a woman of her word. Honesty and truthfulness are the most valuable things in her world and this has truly been the only time Josie has lied to her.

  
Lie is a loose term... considering she hasn't flat out lied yet. Just, changed the subject, said she was going to study, wasn't feeling good. They weren't lies. Just... not the whole truth.

  
"Nothing you need to know." Josie looks around the crowded room until her eyes land on Penelope. "I gotta get out of here for a sec. Take charge at our station or whatever." She scurries away from the table, leaving Lizzie alone.

  
Lizzie groans and rests her head in her hand.

"That seat taken?"

  
When Lizzie looks up, tall and handsome, star athlete, Rafael Waithe smiles back at her. His suit has a pop of color with the ugliest blue tie she's ever seen.  
She rolls her eyes. "Go for it."

  
*******

  
Hope hits a few keys on her keyboard and she's in. The school's firewall is shit.

  
She has one plan and it's to change Milton Greasley's AP chemistry grade to a C. Who the fuck won't bump an athlete up .3% to get a C average so they can play in the big game?

  
She's going through the grading book and my god are people bad at chemistry. Even Alyssa Chang has a B average after the last exam. She scrolls until she finds Milton and changes the D to a C. Literally .3% of a bump but it's all he needs to play football.

  
This is child's play. Not even a challenge to get into the grade book and somehow no authority figure at this school has noticed the slight changes in grades over the last two years.

  
Her door flies open and Landon storms in.

  
_Note to self: lock the door_ , she thinks.

  
"Hi?" Hope mutters from her desk. "Thought we were just meeting downstairs."

  
"Penelope Park told me you're keeping a secret." He blankly says. "Something about Josie Saltzman."

  
Hope shuts her laptop and hesitantly stands up to face him. "Why would Josie Saltzman have anything to do with you?"

  
"I don't know. You tell me Hope."

  
Silence. A long lingering span of silence.

  
She doesn't have to say anything after this because the silence is a response on its own.

  
"I can explain ok. It's just-" She reaches for his hands but pushes her away. "Landon-"

  
"You know everyone always said I shouldn't be with you because you're reckless and unpredictable and a whole lot of other shit I ignored!" He rants.  
"Can you calm down! We can talk about this!"

  
"There's clearly nothing to talk about! You already made up your mind about us!"

  
Her mood shifts greatly. She crosses her arms and glares at him.

  
"You made your mind up about us months ago." Hope fires back.

  
Yet another lingering span of silence.

  
"You know you're not innocent." Hope laughs. "I forgave you for what you did but I don't get a second chance too? That's rich."  
"I didn't cheat on you."

  
She moves closer to his face. "No, you did something way worse and honestly I would've rather you had just cheated on me."

  
She's giving him that tone when she's angry but holding back because she doesn't want to be the person everyone thinks she is. It's gritted teeth through harsh words. A stone cold glare to match.

  
Landon laughs in her face. "You must have pretty shitty self esteem to wish for that."

  
He knows her well. He knows that holding back means she's bubbling with rage. If he pushes her a little more he'll get a reaction and she'll still be that terrible person everyone fears at this school. He'll stay the good guy who got caught in a bad relationship. Everyone already thinks that's how it's been anyways.  
"Fuck you." Hope grits. "I'm not arguing with you like this was entirely my fault."

  
He sits on the edge of her bed and shakes his head with a smile she'd like to wipe off his face. "I guess now is a good time we circle back to the fact that _you_ cheated on _me_."

  
Hope breathes hard. She's bubbling high now. He watches her pace for a second, hands in her hair, over thinking her next set of words. If they're gonna break up now, he wants her to break up with him. He's innocent, she's the bad guy. "I know what you're doing." Hope says. "I'm not playing this game. Not anymore."

  
"What game?" Landon laughs. "You're the one always playing games." He tugs on her waist to pull her closer to him. Hope shoves his hands off her and he keeps going back like this is fun and playful. "This is your game, Hope." He says while she's trying to push him away. Her hands push on his chest and in one sudden sweep she hits him in the face.

  
And another lingering silence. This one, louder than the last two.

  
Landon wipes a small bit of blood from the corner of his mouth and laughs as he turns to face her.

  
She stands frozen. Hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." Hope reaches for his face and he pushes her back. Something snaps her back to the entire conversation they've been having. She's not looking at him sympathetically like she was a second ago.  
"No. No I'm not sorry." Hope declares. "This is over."

  
"You really want to be who _everyone_ thinks you are, Hope?"

  
She opens the door and stands aside. "I was never good at proving them wrong anyways." She shrugs. "So if they think I'm the villain, I'll be the villain. Get out."

  
Landon plots at the corner of his mouth. "You're done at this school." He says as he steps out of the room.

  
It's oddly, a weight off her shoulders.

  
This break up has been brewing for months. He's not who he shows the entire school and she's not who she shows the entire school. Hope spent this entire relationship feeling like she was the problem. The reason people disapproved of them being together because she's a forest fire and destroys everyone who steps in her sight. She was feared for her sharp tongue, her attitude, her inability to let anyone close to her. Her reputation was being feared and she hated it. But who cares what others think when you're stuck in a relationship you don't want to be in because you're scared people will call you a forest fire.She chose today of all days to give in. A naive decision future Hope would tell herself.

  
*******

  
Josie bursts through the doors of her dorm and eyes, Jade, her roommate sitting by the window, mid attempt at lighting a joint.

  
"Jesus. You scared the hell out of me." Jade raises the lighter again. "Aren't you supposed to be helping with the bullshit downstairs?"

  
Josie shuts the door quickly and goes to sit next to Jade. She pulls the joint out of her hand and takes a hit before Jade could even get her first.

  
"Sure go the fuck ahead." Jade rests her head against the window and watches. "So is it true?"

  
"Is what true?" She says before she inhales again.

  
"That you fucked Hope Mikaelson."

  
Josie goes into a cough fit. The smoke popping out of her mouth like little clouds while she hands Jade the joint back.

  
"So I take that as a yes."

  
"I didn't!" Josie defensively responds. "We didn't get that far ever."

  
"Ok, well how'd Pen take it?"

  
Josie gets up from the window sill and starts pacing. "You and Lizzie are like leeches you know?" She runs her hand over her face in frustration. "She broke up with me! And Hope keeps texting me asking where I am because she wants to talk but if anyone sees the two of us even breathing in the same room shit’s gonna hit the fan."

  
Jade chuckles as she blows the smoke out the window. "You think very highly of your social status at this school don't you?"

  
"Jade."

  
"Ok! Ok!" she puts her hands up in defense. "You should probably call Hope."

  
"She wants to talk in person." Josie replies.

  
"Ok then. Tell her to come up here."

  
With a deadpan, Josie shuts down the offer. "Someone will see. Everyone's nosy as hell here."

  
"Meet her in the woods then." Jade suggests. "No one will see then."

  
Josie picks her phone up and starts typing. "You know, sometimes you have good ideas."

  
"I always have good ideas."

  
"No when you're not high you have good ideas." Josie shoots. She steps over to the window and grabs the joint. "Seriously, you have to stop. If my dad catches you-"  
"He'll what? Expel me?" Jade tugs on Josie's wrist, making her hold the joint in front of her lips. She takes a last hit before Josie tosses it out the window. "That's all I've wanted since I got dropped off here."

  
Josie shuts the window and looks over at her roommate. "We'll talk about your dying want to be expelled later." She grabs a coat off the coat hanger. "I have to go."

  
"Have fun staring into each other's eyes in the moonlight."

*******

  
Alaric watches the charity event from the top of the stairs. These grand parties weren't exactly in his boarding school headmaster for dummies book.

  
He loves his job. He loves his daughters but part of him wishes they didn't attend a troubled rich kids school they were enrolled in before he could even see if they were troubled.

  
Josie now acts out because of her roommate. Terrible paring on his part but he had to keep an eye on Jade when she first started here for more reasons than he could explain. Josie was a safe bet until she got old enough to have a fake ID and cover up hickeys. She's found her way as one of the "troubled" kids and they all love her now.  
It's an act though. He’s sure of it. Being the headmaster's daughter doesn't give you a cool factor and Josie dove head first into the popularity pool when Jade showed up.

  
Lizzie on the other hand, was here strictly because he made her be here. She was the top of the class, into activism and couldn't put a book down until she finished it no matter the size, content or if it was a textbook on day one of classes.

  
She was why he wanted to leave the school. A better future for both his girls. A problem free future.

  
"Your daydreaming is missing something." Officer Mac hands Alaric a glass of champagne and he takes it with pleasure. She sips on hers and looks at the party bustle below. "Quite the party you've thrown here."

  
He laughs. "The party planning is all Lizzie." He spots her still manning her station. Rafael bugging her to talk to him instead of reading her book. "She's as type A as they come."

  
"Is she looking at colleges yet?"

  
"Some." He says. "I'm just not sure this school is going to give her what she needs for them though."

  
Mac turns to face the opposite direction while she leans on the railing. "Well, my kids aren't getting any better of an education in public school. This town might not be the right fit for Lizzie."

  
Alaric sips on his drink. "She likes it here. Surprisingly. Library really is all to her. Josie and her don't share a room and it forces them to spend time apart and find time to spend time together. She likes the freedom. Just..."

  
"Not the classroom?"

  
He taps his glass to hers. "Ding." The two share a laugh and take a sip like it was a proper cheers. "She's got a lot going for her. Josie too. She's smart, just hanging out with some people she shouldn't but I can't hover. I just have to let her make her own decisions. She'll figure it out I'm sure. Plus, she hasn't gotten into too much trouble. Sneaking a girlfriend into her room after curfew and drinking isn't all that bad in retrospect."

  
Mac's demeanor shifts. "How's Hope Mikaelson been?"

  
And now Alaric's demeanor shifts too.

  
He leans on the railing and swishes the champagne in his glass. "Hope is just, hot headed. We're working on it. Trying to get her anger out in other ways, talking to the school therapist more often."

  
Hope was on a first name basis with the receptionist at the police station. She's spent the last year trying to pull herself together so her shot at getting into the colleges she wants are just a little higher.

  
"Donavan is sure as hell glad we haven't seen her in a bit." Mac says. "She's a smart kid though. Good with computers right?"

  
"Yeah, she's neck and neck with Lizzie for top of the class." Alaric notes. "Grades aren't her problem. It's... everything else."

  
He watches across the party at Hope walking through. She's not dressed for the event and he'd go stop her before she gets into whatever trouble he knows she's getting into but a football player just shoved a tennis boy and he has to stop that first.

  
"Oh god." Alaric mutters.

  
"You take Jed, I'll get the other guy." Mac follows behind Alaric.

  
"Yeah okay I'll get the bigger guy who could pummel me."

  
*******

  
Josie taps her phone against her hand repeatedly. She's nervous for whatever reason. Waiting in the middle of the cold and dark woods slightly off campus is sketchy but it's truly the least of her worries.

  
"Josie?"

  
Her head perks up as she scans the darkness for the voice.

  
They shouldn't have chosen to go this far from campus because the lights are just tiny micro sights now.

  
"Jo? Say something or I'll never find you." Hope rounds a tree and slams into Josie's back.

  
"Polo." Josie laughs as she turns around. "Found me I guess."

  
"You told Penelope?!"

  
Josie straightens herself out. "Guess we're getting right to the point." She mumbles and shifts awkwardly to toy with her own hands. "She found out on her own."  
"How? We were so careful." Hope says. "Does she know about Landon and all the other stuff?"

  
"I don't know. She didn't stay for a q&a after the break up rant."

  
Hope rolls her eyes. Josie has this ridiculous ability to make everything seem like it's not a big deal. The world could literally be ending but if it came from her mouth you'd still somehow be at ease. It was like a super power.

  
"Look, I can try and ask but she's not gonna talk to me." Josie explains. "If she says anything more than she has already I _will_ crush her."

  
Hope cracks a smile. "It's cute that you would go to war for me but I don't think her talking is gonna be my biggest problem."

  
Landon is somewhere at that charity gala, talking to anyone who will listen about the breakup and the hit to the face and the manipulative game Hope played. Yeah, that all happened but he did some messed up shit too that no one's gonna hear about now.

  
"Ok we can stop him from talking right?" Josie nods towards the school.

  
"Josie-"

  
"Right? I mean I'm sure if we just talk to him-"

  
"Josie." Hope grabs her hands to stop her from talking. "It's fine. I can deal with it myself. You don't have to get involved."

  
"No I want to. I mean he treated you like shit. You shouldn't have to take all the blame. That's not fair."

  
Hope only gives her a tiny smile. "It's ok. He can talk all he wants." She explains. "I'm trying to be better." Hope says in a mocking tone. Mocking Josie's father—the headmaster—of course. "On the road to college and the path to redemption as your dad says."

  
Josie smiles. "He says you're making great mental progress."

  
"Isn't there like a confidentiality he's breaking by telling you that?"

  
"Oh one hundred percent but I can also, just...tell." The last part of the sentence comes out more like a whisper.

  
A shy smile crosses Josie's face. The kind of smile only Hope ever sees. Josie isn't shy. Hope isn't either for that matter but around each other something always changes.

  
She's going to say something else but is interrupted by Hope grabbing her face and her lips meeting hers. Josie can feel Hope's smile through the kiss. Arguably the best kind of kiss. When they pull back, they both linger close. Josie toys with Hope's hair and knows what comes next is Hope running off to deal with this mess.

  
"I'm gonna go try and talk to him again." Hope quietly says before kissing Josie again. "I'll tell you how it goes later."

  
As Hope leaves, she holds onto Josie's hand until she's truly out of reach. That’s the problem with sneaking around. The little time they get is never enough. Josie stands alone in the woods for a few minutes. It's the drill they've mastered. One goes, the other waits a few minutes before going back.

  
And she's just about to go back inside to join the gala and Lizzie again when she gets a text from Jade.

  
_**I need you. Please hurry.** _

  
Her heart sinks as she reads the message.

  
*******

  
Lizzie says she's going to the bathroom to get away from Rafael for a bit. He talks far too much for someone who doesn't even know her.

  
She strolls into the library and of course, she's alone because what kid at a delinquent boarding school spends their free time in the library.

  
Rows and rows of beautiful, leather bound books line the shelves. The smell of new textbooks mixing with the old, worn books. It's her favorite place to be. It's her happy place.

  
She pulls off the shelf the most worn copy of _The Yellow Wallpaper_ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It’s wedged in the same spot she hid it last. Far right corner. Tucked behind Fyodor Dostoyevsky's _Crime and Punishment_. No one at this school will even look in that book’s direction.

  
Lizzie takes the book and sits at a table in the corner. She opens it to reveal a perfect hole in the book like a keepsake box. A ziplock bag of white pills sits untouched. She counts them over twice before placing four in a separate, smaller, ziplock. Her phone buzzes and she glances at the table. She’s assuming it’s just a local Mystic Falls high school student asking where to meet her. 

  
Lizzie is smart. You use a non traceable number from an app for the clients and the dealer. You pick a place to meet but you never meet the people. Show up a half hour early and put the bag in a secure spot. When they text where are you, and they will, you just tell them to transfer the money to a PayPal that can't be traced back to your actual bank account first. Once you get the money, you tell them where you put their goody bag.

  
Yes, it's a flawed plan and yes it somehow still works. These kids are just kids and want a few pills to get high at a party. It's not that serious.

  
She slips the larger bag back into the book and closes it then puts the smaller bag in the small pocket in her dress.

  
" _The Yellow Wallpaper_?" Rafael's voice calls from the doorway.

  
Lizzie practically jumps at the sound of his voice. "Um, yeah. How did you-"

  
"Good eyesight." He laughs, nodding towards the book title facing him. "Twenty twenty vision and all. It helps with football."

  
"What are you doing here?" She completely dismisses his comment because literally what is Rafael doing here?

  
He steps further into the library and shrugs. "Looking for Hope."

  
"Why would Hope be here?" Lizzie snaps. "And why did you leave the booth? Who's watching it now?"

  
Rafael laughs. "Lizzie come on. It's fine. The gala is practically over."

  
She glances at her phone. Yep, it was a _where are you_ text that she was expecting. She gets up, holding the book still, and starts physically pushing Rafael towards the door. "And you should still be at the table taking donations." He doesn't budge much. It's like trying to move a wall. "Raf, I am so serious right now." It's taking all her force to move him a centimeter.

  
"The library is open for all students." He laughs. "Lizzie—what are you doing seriously?"

  
She turns around and uses her legs to try and move him. "Let's. Go." She practically groans. "Get out."

  
"I can go when I want to and you're cute when you're annoyed."

  
She loses her footing and stands up quickly, turning to face him. Lizzie pushes a strand of hair out of her face. "Sorry what did you just say?"

  
"I can go when I want?"

"No the other part." She's astoundingly out of breath from all that shoving. I need to workout more, she notes as she tries to catch her breath.

  
He smiles at her. She's sweet and quieter than most at this school but she's always had his eye even though she always shuts him down.

  
"Seriously you need to leave so I can put this book back." Lizzie explains. Rafael gives her a questioning look. "Just, turn around and close your eyes."

  
"So you can put a book back in its library- given-spot I could look up myself?"

  
Lizzie signals for him to turn around and he does with a laugh. She can be uptight sometimes but she makes it work. 

  
"You're so weird." He puts his hands on his head and shuts his eyes.

  
"You're not peaking are you?" Lizzie is trying to peer around his shoulder to check that his eyes are closed. 

  
"I promise I'm not." Rafael chuckles.

  
Lizzie looks at Rafael then at the shelf. She goes and stuffs the book behind the copy of _Crime and Punishment_ and lets out a breath. "Ok let's go now." and pushes Rafael out towards the door and this time, he lets her.

  
*******

  
"Jade?!" Josie scans the dorm room for her and she's nowhere to be found.

  
She looks over at Jade's side of the room. There's an opened pill bottle on her desk.

  
So she starts counting anti depressant pills and it's kind of overwhelming how quickly she realizes there's way too little amount of pills in this capsule for a capsule that just got refilled two days ago.

  
Josie pulls her phone out and calls Jade as quickly as she can.

  
The phone rings and it's sitting on Jade's bed.

  
Super.

"Shit." Josie mutters.

  
If she tells her dad he's going to find out she's spiraling again and then Jade's a shoe in for rehab and leaving the school like that isn't what she meant when she said being expelled wouldn't be the worst thing.

  
But if she doesn't tell her dad then what if something worse happens? The unknown is far worse than anything else.

  
She hurries out the door and without paying attention, runs into Rafael.

  
"Sorry." He murmurs before realizing who it is. "Hey, we're gonna go crash a Mystic Falls party if you want to come."

  
"I got to um..." she doesn't want to tell him. He won't understand. "I have some stuff to take care of but thanks."

  
Josie rushes off down the stairs. Her dad is helping Alyssa Chang and her minions clean up what's left of the gala.

  
"Where’re you off to?" He stops her before she can get past.

  
"Just going for a walk." She tries to calmly respond.

  
"At eleven at night?"

  
"It's been a bad night." She confesses and yeah, she's not lying. It has been a bad night. An exceptionally shitty one at that. "I'll be back in a few."  
"Stay on the path and be aware of your surroundings!"

  
Josie holds up a small can of pink mace attached to her keys as she walks towards the door.

*******

  
Hope pushes open the door to the roof. Landon likes to come out here and look at the stars when he's had a bad day and honestly, he’s had more bad days than good.  
"I'm not here to argue." Hope says as she steps further out onto the rooftop.

  
Landon sits on the ledge, one foot on the rooftop, one hanging off. He notices her but doesn't acknowledge her.

  
"I'm sorry for cheating." Hope starts, "but you did some pretty awful things too."

  
"Why is this suddenly my fault?" He swings his leg back over the edge and walks towards her. "You're the one who-"

  
"Yeah I know I fucking did! I get it!"

  
"So why are you coming over, guns blazing at me?!" He shouts.

  
"Did you tell anyone about what happened to your face?!"

  
He almost looks offended that she'd even ask. "No. No I didn't tell anyone."

  
"Shocking. Coming from you. You love a good sympathy card." She crosses her arms and walks closer to the edge.

  
The moon is so bright it's a literal night light. Illuminating them both under the stars. It would be romantic if they weren't, you know, fighting.

  
He clears his throat, following behind her. "You've got enough of a bad reputation to deal with. I don't need to fuel that fire anymore than I already have." Landon waits for her to reply. She's quiet. She taps her finger to her lips while she thinks.

  
Hope crosses her arms. "I don't get you. One second you want to gaslight me the next you feel bad for me." She's calmer. Maybe she has made great mental steps forward. "So what do you want? Because I can't figure it out."

  
And there's that silence that tends to fall between them often.

  
"I want you." He finally says. "I love you, Hope."

  
This is where a sweet romantic, moonlight kiss would happen in a sweeter story. But this wasn't a sweet story.

  
"Are you kidding me?" Hope laughs. " _I love you?_ " She mocks. "What the fuck is that about?"

  
"I'm- what? I just-"

  
"No, what the fuck is that about?" She restates.

  
"I don't understand what you're asking me." His voice is raising. He's stepping closer to her.

  
"You can't just say I love you and expect that to fix everything."

  
"I'm saying I love you after everything you just put me through." Landon explains. "Do you know how embarrassing it is to go to a gala by yourself because your girlfriend cheated on you and everyone fucking knows?!"

  
"So we're back to this?!"

  
"Can we forget about that for a second and go back to the I love you part?!" Landon reaches out to grab her hands.

  
Hope takes a second to reevaluate. Breathe. Take a second to think. Breathe. “Fine.” Her voice is a softer whisper. “So you love me?”

  
*******

  
Alaric wanders around the empty grand hall. He's turning lights off, doing one of his many rounds around the school before bed.

  
Lizzie has his rounds memorized. He's by the front door, so she sneaks in from the back. Josie on the other hand, not so much.

  
"How was your walk?" He asks.

  
She seems a bit frantic. "Fine. I'm going to bed." She quickly says, not even making eye contact as she goes past him.

  
His best guess is she's either drunk from the party the students decided to crash or high because of Jade. She's not on his worry radar.

  
Alaric's phone rings in his pocket. He pulls it out and looks at his screen in confusion. Why is Hope calling him?

  
"Everything alright?" He asks like he has a thousand times before.

  
The normal response is she needs a ride home, she's at the station, someone's calling on behalf of her to come give her a ride from the station.

  
He can hear her teeth chattering. She's stuttering and keeps sniffling like she's been outside in the cold for too long.

  
"Hope?" Now he's worried. "Hope what's-"

  
"I think I killed someone I love." Her voice is a whisper. She barely gets the sentence out.

  
"I'm on my way. Where are you?"

  
*******

  
As Alaric pushes through the doors of the rooftop he sees Hope sitting on the ground by the edge. Her head in her hands. "Hope," is all he can say. He doesn't know what to say at all.

  
She looks up, tears streaming down her face. "Dr. Saltzman..."

  
"Hey it's ok. I know you didn't do this." He hurries towards her and peers over the edge.

  
This is bad.

  
Dead student bad but also Hope Mikaelson is one strike away from being hauled off to juvie, kind of bad.

  
"Hope. Hey, can you look at me?" He crouches down to her level and puts a hand on her knee. "Hope."

  
"We were just talking. I-I shoved him to get around him and then." Her hands shake and when she looks at them shaking she cries even more. "I'm eighteen Dr. Saltzman." She cries and it's a realization that hits her only because she's said it out loud now. This time, it's a shaky whisper, "I'm eighteen."

  
"Stop." He pulls her hands away from her face. "Hope, you're gonna be fine."

  
"I'm eighteen. I'm going to jail for this aren't I?"

  
"Hope listen to me-"

  
"Oh my god I can't... I don't want to-"

  
"Hope." He sternly says. "You're not going to jail. I'm not gonna let you."

  
She looks at him with such desperate eyes. He doesn't have answers and he doesn't have a solution but she's begging for one with this one look.  
"I need you to calm down, okay?" Alaric tries to calm his own voice. "Just breathe. Just focus on that."

  
Hope thinks about a million things a second and breathing isn't one of them. She thinks about the fight, the look in his eyes. She thinks about the way he used to bring her flowers when she had a rough day and how he would always stay in bed for hours even after he woke up because he knew she'd wake up if he moved. She thinks about the I love you he finally said on this roof twenty minutes ago. And then she thinks about Josie telling her she can see the mental progress Hope has made.

  
Then the thought of just Josie pops into her head. What is she going to say when she finds out? What is she going to do? Should Josie even know what's happening?

  
"Hope are you listening?" Alaric's voice comes back to the forefront. "Hope?"

  
She shakes her head like it's clearing water out of her ears. "Sorry. What?"

  
"Not if but when, the police show up. You found the body ok? That's all that happened. You just found the body."

  
It comes through her mind and takes a second to click. He wants her to lie.

  
"Why are you helping me get away with this?" Hope mutters.

  
Alaric stands up and runs his hand over his face. "Because you are so close to getting out of here and starting over. You don't deserve to have your life ruined this young."

  
He peers over the edge at the body again.

  
"I'm calling the cops okay?" He takes his phone out.

  
"No please don't! Please!"

  
"Hope it's okay. It's okay." Alaric quickly reaffirms. "Just stick to the plan. It's gonna be fine."

  
He dials the call and glances at Hope still on the ground, curled up in a ball.

  
"There's been an accident." Alaric says into the phone.

  
Hope buries her face into her hands. This cannot be happening to her.

  
This plan is fine though. No one saw. No one's even out and everyone who was out, was off campus entirely or on Alaric's short list of people he knows. He peers out at the woods once more, scanning the area all around. No one could've seen because there's no one out in the woods.

  
There truly wasn't anyone in the woods that night. He was right.

  
But Jade was by the garage, under Alaric and Hope's nose this whole time. A splash of blood on her face, still staring at Landon's body a few feet from her.

  
*******  


**Author's Note:**

> Told y'all I'd write this if enough of you asked. Hello! I'm sammy.editss on ig and tribryds on twitter! This is from the fake trailer I made a while ago. It's been a minute but I wanted to get a few parts under my belt before posting any of it so here we finally are!
> 
> Also this is my first time using this site like I literally made this acc to post this so bare with me as I figure out how to use literally all of it lol. Hope you like this little AU while we wait for this cursed show to return. Updates will be whenever I have time but I'll try and do it once a week as I don't see this being a story longer than like 10 parts. 
> 
> Cool, ok, follow me on twitter for updates and if you have questions you can ask me there too! Thank you for reading! See you soon I hope


End file.
